AMD is preparing yet another performance-mainstream Radeon HD 4000 series SKU. The Radeon HD 4790 finds lineage from the Radeon HD 4890, currently AMD's fastest GPU. The RV790 GPU will be given a new set of specifications and memory configuration, to yield an SKU that performs better than the Radeon HD 4770, and slightly better than HD 4850. It beats us as to why it is positioned in the HD 4700 series, and not say "Radeon HD 4860", but we are too late to comment on that.

Specifications-wise, the RV790 core runs at 600 MHz, slightly lower than the RV770 in Radeon HD 4850 (625 MHz), but its performance increment over it comes from the use of GDDR5 memory. The GPU makes use of a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. It handles 512 MB of memory clocked at 800 MHz (3200 MHz effective). Being based on the RV790, it is pin-compatible with any existing HD 4890 PCB. Price-wise, it is expected to sit between the HD 4850 and HD 4870.

Hmm. ATi is struggling with getting 40nm fabbed. It is having to create another 55nm SKU to fill the "consumer gap" in the 4770 space. The "hope"? So people think they are buying into the 47xx range of price, low power, silent, and one step quicker than a 4770. But actually, they are getting an "underperforming" 4870/4890 with similar power consumption levels.

While it might still be a good card and a good price/performance ratio, it isnt a step forward, just yet another SKU-confusion to price gouge in the retail channels where the typical consumer doesnt know sh1t.

I really don't get ATi here, it seems they are trying to flood the market to make up for their failure to successfully get 40nm out in reasonable quantities.

This card just adds more confusion to the mix. It seems to me like ATi wanted to use 40nm for the HD4770 series, but because they couldn't get enough 40nm chips, they have instead used their other higher end chips to make the cards. That doesn't make sense to me really, why not keep the RV790/770 chips named HD4800, and forget about HD4770.

We still don't even know what the HD4730 can be used with in Crossfire...

by: KainXSthis is more than likely just to get rid of the cores that are low binned and can't run at the stock freq's of the 4890

its just a 4890 with a low core clock thats it

as a matter of fact that card is exactly the same as the Powercolor HD4890 from the looks, the PCB even has the same model number on it.

Strange card with a strange number , overclocked can be just as good as a 4870 , the next generation must be very good if they dump the old stock so quickly , they make me curios how fast the new generation will be to dump the 4800 series so cheap.

by: KainXSthey probably don't want to get it all mixed up and cause confusion, but then again those cores might not even clock to 4870 frequencies either efficiently

Its not that many cards I mean theres only gonna be 12 HD4XXX cards with this, but including nvidia's nearly 20 current cards now I still say not really

Using the RV790/770 in HD4700 cards adds way more confusion than simply using RV790 cores in HD4870 cards. The general user wouldn't know the difference, and the RV770 and RV790 are virtually identical. They certainly are a lot closer to eachother than they are to RV740. And if they don't clock to HD4870 speeds, put them in HD4850's then. I find it hard to believe that an RV790 couldn't at least do 625MHz. Why release a whole new card to take the place of the HD4850 instead of just using the RV790 cores in the HD4850s?